The Internet is very useful as a medium of communication and provision and retrieval of information. The Internet became also a medium in which individuals form or associate themselves with virtual communities consisting of individuals with common interests, backgrounds, etc. In order to belong to such a virtual community an individual ‘surfing’ the Internet typically needs to locate the proper website and register. It would have been useful to have an Internet-based means that will be able to associate an individual with one or more communities (“community” including individuals with family relations, individuals having a common interest, individuals having a similar origin or background, etc.), based on a self entered profile.
The Internet also proved to be a useful tool for individuals to locate family members, lost friends, etc. This requires posting notes on appropriate virtual bulleting boards, using appropriate search engines, etc. This, however, is a relatively chance process and may not always bring the desired results. It would have been useful to streamline this process.
Some background information may be found in the following publications:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,488 to Gasper et al., discloses a three-dimensional tree-structured data display;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,416,325 to Gross discloses a genealogical analysis tool;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,059 to Gupta et al., discloses an adaptive collaborative intelligent network system;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,350 to Carter discloses a method and apparatus for pricing products in multi-level product and organizational groups;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,570,567 to Eaton, discloses a system and method for using a graphical interface for the presentation of genealogical information;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,001 to Ripley discloses a system and method for sharing data between hierarchical databases; and
U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,015 to Notargiacomo et al., discloses a method and system for building a family tree.